Newcastle Village and District Historical Society

1 week ago

The JASCO Products

By Myno Van Dyke

The J. Anderson Smith Company (JASCO) came to Newcastle, Ontario in 1916 and purchased the vacant former Massey Manufacturing Factory on King East at Beaver Street. The factory buildings had seen very little use since 1879 when Massey moved their entire operation to Toronto.

James A. Smith came from New Hamburg, Ontario and had obtained a contract to manufacture wooden ammunition boxes for the Canadian Army. This continued until WW1 ended in 1918. Instead of closing up shop, they decided to utilize their equipment and supplies and manufacture silverware cases. In those days, eating utensils were made of silver and unless stored in a proper environment they would tarnish quickly. These cases ensured that the silverware, for the most part, glistened.

In the early 1960s, the company saw a drop in sales, due to the fact that eating utensils were now mostly made from stainless steel, which meant no more tarnishing or polishing. This encouraged JASCO to change production to mostly jewelry cases, which proved to be a wise decision. When Smith turned the company over to his daughter Jackie and her husband Grant Cooper, business was going well but the Coopers soon realized that there were other products that they could be making.

●Glass top tables - these larger tables were quite attractive and had a polished glass top.

●Television and Radio cabinets - very few of these were made apparently, but there were a number of radio cabinets made by JASCO.

●“Regency” 2-drawer Cutlery cabinets with curved legs. According to former Plant Manager Chris Cooper, these cabinets were very expensive to make and there was little or no profit. To overcome this they ordered “night tables” from another furniture manufacturer and added the drawers at the JASCO plant making much better profits.

●Wooden Pen and Pencil Cases for Sheaffer in Goderich, Ontario. These were also costly and time consuming to manufacture but JASCO did make several thousand of them before stopping production.
Shoe Shine Boxes for Schick Canada - these were very popular with a foot plate on top and compartments inside for an electric polisher, polish, brush and other items.

●Funeral Urns - these were small wooden urns made of either oak or walnut to hold human ashes. They had a small plastic bag inserted into them and were shipped to a funeral wholesaler. Chris Cooper advised “they were about the size of a Kleenex box but stood vertically with a lid on top.”

●3M Video Cassette Tape small cabinets. These were made of mahogany and would hold 18 video cassettes which were played on a VCR. These were limited edition for a 3M Anniversary.

●Refurbishing - People’s Credit Jewelers and Birks Jewelers were major clients of JASCO and at times they would send jewelry and silverware cases that were brought in by clients in need of refurbishing.

●Furniture Components - Gibbard Furniture in Napanee, Ontario, would have JASCO make up “components;” usually the cloth inserts for various types of furniture.

●Custom made “Regalia” boxes for Pope’s visit to Canada in 1984 - only 3 were made-one of which went to the Pope to store his items during his time in our country.

In 1945, Howard and Grace Toms purchased an existing store on the south side of King West at Mill Street and began a grocery business eventually called Toms and Sons. By the 1950s their two daughters, Jean and Marj were working in the business along with their respective husbands Bud Wagar and Murray Paterson. Soon, many other products were sold at the store including Ladies’ and Men’s wear, wall paper, carpet and shoes and boots. During this time a large shelving unit was built for the store by JASCO. This business relationship made sense because Grace Toms was the daughter of James Anderson Smith, the founder of JASCO. The shelving unit was apparently used in the store to display dry goods. Eventually, the unit found its way to Bud and Jean Wagar’s house on the corner of Emily and Beaver. Streets in Newcastle. After Bud and Jean passed away their son Bill took over the house. The house was recently sold and Bill offered the shelving unit to our NVDHS. It is a large solid wood shelving unit with two electric fluorescent lights installed. On the back is the old “J. Anderson Smith Co.” sticker and Chris Cooper advises it’s an older one so this unit is probably from the early 1950s. This unit is about 4 feet wide and almost as high so it’s not practical for us to keep in the Historical Room. It would be nice to see it go to a good home.

It’s been interesting to see how this great company survived for almost 75 years. They were constantly looking for new products and ways to keep their company successful. So many people in Newcastle were employed here and, in the end, they had to shut down for essentially the same reason that Massey Manufacturing left back in 1879; the inability to find workers. Chris Cooper said that this was also a huge issue with JASCO. They were unable to pay the same salaries as General Motors and many of the large industries in the area. The other issue was that after World War 2 there were plenty of young people who were used to doing physical work and certainly had the stamina to work in a manufacturing environment like JASCO. By the 1980s, it was almost impossible to keep employees for any length of time as many found the job too strenuous. Young folks that grew up on farms and new immigrants to Canada, like the Dutch, had no difficulty working there, but this eventually changed. Also, by the late 1980s, many of their products were being imported in from other countries with much inferior quality and for a fraction of the cost. Unfortunately, the factory closed for good in 1990. Thankfully, the stories and memories remain. The late Amos Langley, a long-time employee, put together a video of the plant just before it closed. You can see it on YouTube.

youtu.be/WoO8McQc1Rs ... See MoreSee Less

Newcastle Village and District Historical Society

2 weeks ago

RAY & MA B E L G O O D E
by Myno Van Dyke

Occasionally, I will feature some of the great people who were the early members and builders of the Newcastle Village and District Historical Society. This article is about Ray and Mabel Goode. Although they lived in Orono, they had a wonderful and generous relationship with Newcastle.

Mabel Lillian Clemence, was born October 8, 1923 at Lot 1, Concession 1 in Darlington Township. This farm property, called “Spruce Grove” was on the north side of Highway 2, just west of the Darlington/Clarke Townline. Her parents were William John Clemence, who was born in Hope Township, and Georgina Allan, who was from Fenelon Falls, Ontario. Mabel had 3 sisters, Mary, Isabelle (Sacerty) and Jean (Holmes) and 3 brothers, Allan, Charlie and Art. Their property was originally owned by William McIntosh. This house was originally built in 1828 and the Bemis family lived there at one time.

In later years, Marten and Betsy Van Dyk and his family lived there for many years. The old Clemence house had been vandalized and burned so was eventually torn down. In 2016, Lincoln Holmes ( LH ), owned by Mike and Crystal Yaki purchased the lot and this year (2020) constructed a new “modern farmhouse” on the north end of the property. Ironically, Crystal has been a Director at Newcastle Village & District Historical Society for the past few years.

Mabel attended Shaw’s School (S.S. #1 Darlington) which was a bit farther west, also on the north side of Highway 2. Today, it is still there, but was sold at a public auction in 1979 and has been converted into a home. Mabel graduated from Bowmanville High School and Bowmanville Business School and found her first job in Oshawa. She met Raymond Goode, who was from Port Perry and they were married at the Clemence home on May 27, 1944.

Raymond L. Goode was born in Port Perry in December 1919. His parents were Harold and Olive (Davey) Goode. In 1927, the Goodes moved to Orono and lived on Sommerville Drive. Ray got a job with the Orono Creamery and later became a part owner. His job was to pick up cream from the local farmers and also deliver butter and eggs. The Goodes purchased a house on Church Street in Orono and had a daughter Susan Mary, who married Michael Cawker. They live in Port Hope and have a son Jeffrey and daughter Sara.

In 1958, Ray sold his share and began looking for some business opportunities. They were driving through Newcastle and spotted a hardware store owned by Harvey Bonathan with a for sale sign. The large brick building at 71 King Avenue West was built in 1847 and has an interesting history. At one time, on the second floor, it housed Alexandra Hall, also called the Concert Hall. Here there were shows such as “General Jackson’s Minstrel Show” as well as the first silent films shown in Newcastle. A dentist, Dr. Harnden, had an office on the upper floor as well.

On the lower floor, there was a drug store; the original home of the famous Northrup & Lyman Drugs (who moved to Toronto in 1879) followed by Robt. J. Fothergill, the Farncomb brothers, S.B. Scobell, William Anderson and W.H. Anderson. After Harvey Bonathan moved in, the hardware store was expanded to take over the former drug store space. Today, there are once again two storefronts there - the Castle IDA Pharmacy and Gold Reflections, a jewelry store.

Harvey Bonathan had a successful hardware store on the main level, having moved the store from the original location at 27 King Ave. E., and the Goodes ended up purchasing it in 1958 and calling it Goode’s Hardware. Mable worked alongside Ray in the store and said; “The first few years were like going back to school and getting an education. Sometimes we worked twelve to fifteen hours a day.”

Ray and Mabel soon became very popular in the village. The store had two other employees, Carol Rowley and Joan Faris. The Goode’s were very active in the Newcastle community, being involved in Scouts, the Newcastle Arena and both Anglican and United Churches. Ray belonged to the Lion’s Club for 40 years and served as President. He was very active in the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce and the Clarington Food Bank. In the 1970s they were responsible for bringing in new dentists to Newcastle, Robert Farquharson and Rod McArthur who first set up their business above the hardware store.

Mabel was very active in the Newcastle Village & District Historical Society. She said that she was “a collector of all things historical.” She was one of the founding members, joining in 1980.

Mabel GoodeMabel was also instrumental in the decision to move into the former Library in the Community Hall in 1988. She was a Director of the Society for many years and also served as Curator for many years with Pat Macdonnell. She compiled genealogies of four of her families and was a very meticulous scrap booker. She was involved in organizing our Collector’s Fair and Heritage Shows. Evidence of her efforts are still referred to often in the Historical Society Room. She was very precise and accurate in all of her work. In her quiet and efficient way, she was a great mentor for all of us who worked with her.

Ray and Mabel retired in 1981 and sold the store. Ray passed away after a short illness on April 12, 1998. His pall bearers were Don Goode, Edward Millson, Judge E. R. (Dick) Lovekin, Brenton Rickard, Frank Hoar and Murray Paterson. He is buried at the Orono Cemetery.

Mabel stayed in her home on Church Street in Orono for many years. I noticed once that she literally flew up the steps into the Community Hall carrying a heavy box of books. I remarked to her, “I can’t believe how good you are on your feet.” She nodded and said, “Well, that’s why I want to stay in that old (2 storey) house in Orono as long as I can. I go up those stairs about eighty times a day and that’s why I am still good on my feet.”

In her later years she moved in with her daughter’s family in Port Hope. She passed away on Sunday, January 24, 2016 in her 93rd year. She is buried in Orono, next to Ray. ... See MoreSee Less